Thread by @camelliakyoto

📿KYŌTO'S SHIKOKU PILGRIMAGE🙏

even in Kyoto-
hearing the cuckoo's cry-
I long for Kyoto
京にても 京なつかしや ほととぎす
-Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉 1644–1694).

Around the New Year I like to complete a small pilgrimage, not particularly well known, on a mountain close to my house.

Are you interested in undertaking the Shikoku Pilgrimage (四国遍路), but find yourself without any real time to do so?🤔

Not to worry...close to our Camellia Garden Teahouse there is a way to complete the pilgrimage without ever leaving Kyōto🙌
#Kyoto #Japan #京都 #四国遍路

Snaking up and down the slopes of Jyōju-san (成就山), a mountain that rises behind Ninna-ji (仁和寺), is a tiny version of the Shikoku Pilgrimage.

Kūkai (空海 774-835), founder of Shingon Buddhism (真言宗), is alleged to have first created the circuit of 88 temples on Shikoku👣

Abbot Sainin of Ninna-ji (済仁/仁和寺) created the 'Omuro 88 Temple Pilgrimage' (御室八十八ヶ所霊場) for those who could not manage the real Shikoku Pilgrimage (四国遍路).
Begun in 1829, it was completed 3 years later.

#Ninnaji #OmuroPilgrimage #Kyoto #仁和寺 #御室八十八ヶ所霊場

Sainin charged the temple custodian (and court physician) Hisatomi Tootōmi-no-kami Fumitsura (久富遠江守文連 1761-1846) with undertaking the Shikoku Pilgrimage in order to collect sand (四国霊場の土) from each of the 88 temples.
This sand was placed in 88 small halls on Mt Jyōju.

For a long time there weren't sufficient funds to undo the damage caused by typhoons over the years, but recently Ninna-ji is working extra hard to revitalize the route.

I'm quite fond of the ramshackle nature of the pilgrimage.
#Ninnaji #仁和寺 #Kyoto #京都 #Japan

It may seem odd to construct a miniature Shikoku Henro (四国遍路) behind Ninna-ji (仁和寺), but the temple has a long connection with the pilgrimage.

From Edo times it became popular to pray for safety at Ninna-ji before undergoing the actual pilgrimage.
#Japan #京都 #Omuro

Together Ninna-ji (仁和寺), Tō-ji (東寺) & Jinkō-in (神光院) make up the 'San-Kōbō Meguri' (三弘法巡り), a pilgrimage to 3 statues of Kōbō Daishi (弘法大師), also known as 'Yakuyoke Daishi' (厄除大師 'Calamity Dispelling Master').
People pray for good luck, health and protection.

'San-Kōbō Meguri' is held on the 21st of each month (in remembrance of Kūkai's 空海 death in 835), with pilgrims journeying to the 3 temples.
A special pilgrimage called 'San-Kōbō Mōde' (三弘法詣) is held on January 3rd in order to pray for health and safety in the upcoming year.

The original 'San-Kōbō Meguri' pilgrimage began in Edo times. Abolished in the anti-Buddhist climate of 1868, it was resurrected in 2012.

Pilgrims would pray at the 3 temples before undertaking the Shikoku Pilgrimage (四国遍路).

#御室八十八ヶ所霊場 #shikokupilgrimage #Ninnaji